Shunji Iwai/Hayato Ichihara

I watched Shunji Iwai's All About Lily Chou Chou (2001) a few years ago, and today I remembered one of the songs on the soundtrack that I really liked, "Arabesque".
The movie itself is a little bit hard to understand, but the concept of the characters anonymously writing on an online message board compared to their real lives was very interesting (one of the last scenes really sticks with me). Its a really nicely shot movie with beautiful colors (as the movies I've seen by Iwai tend to have).


imdb: All About Lily Chou Chou/リリイ・シュシュのすべて



Hayato Ichihara also puts on a great performance (along with Aoi Yuu). And the soundtrack to this movie is gorgeous. If you don't want to watch the movie, at least listen to the music. The singer Salyu played the part of Lily Chou Chou and her music is really wonderful.
It seems Iwai has a liking for Ichihara and Aoi's performances as they were both also in his movie Rainbow Song (along with Ueno Juri, my new favorite), which I watched today. Iwai himself worked on Rainbow Song's screenplay under the name 'Aminosan' (and I generally think that he had a hand in picking the actors for it).


imdb: Rainbow Song/虹の女神



Rainbow Song (2006) is about a boy, Tomoya (Hayato Ichihara) who, after Aoi's (Juri Ueno) death realizes his love for her.
I don't know if that's a good summary of the movie, but I think it sort of gives a general idea. It has sort of become a favorite for me.. I really love a lot of the scenes, and I really recommend the movie. This is also a movie that really displays Ichihara's acting ability. Also, Aoi Yuu plays Aoi (Juri Ueno)'s sister in the movie.



I could go into a couple more of Iwai's movies (though Rainbow Song was directed by Naoto Kumazawa), but I think I'll leave it at that for now. Check them out!